


solitaire

by cirque



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ghosts, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cirque/pseuds/cirque
Summary: Of coursethe planet was haunted.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2019





	solitaire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadaras](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/gifts).



_ Of course _ the planet was haunted. 

She was only there for the diamonds. It rained diamonds on Elek, real fat diamonds the size of your fist. They fetched a pretty penny in any market in the galaxy - the trick was getting them, because it also rained acid, which tended to melt the diamonds before anyone could get to them. Sometimes they even melted en route and you just got covered with a sharp shiny film that wasn’t worth anything to anyone.

So now Alys was stuck on an acid-laden planet, waiting out an interplanetary war, only to discover she wasn’t alone. The last news she’d got from base said she could expect to be grounded for six hours, possibly more. She dragged her feet through the diamond-debris, like tiny specks of glass mixing with the general dust of an uninhabited planet. It crunched under her boots. 

The first ghost appeared in broad daylight, right in front of her eyes. It fluttered out from the abandoned mine and just… glittered there. Alys had seen aliens and half-breeds and space elves and inbetweens, but never in all her years as ranger had she laid eyes on a ghost. She took several faltering steps backwards, as though that would help. The second, third, fourth ghost materialised alongside their kin. They were floaty clouds of faint-gray, hovering some eight inches off the dirt floor, half-transparent and shiny.

Alys dropped her pack. “W-what?” 

“What?” said the ghost, and Alys supposed that was fair; she was the newcomer after all. 

“Are you ghosts?” Because, really, what else was she supposed to say?

The first ghost actually looked offended - the expression flittered half-formed across its see-through face. Perhaps it was a sore spot.

“Sorry -” Alys felt guilty, “I just - I’ve never seen a ghost before.”

“We’ve seen plenty of humans.” The distaste with which it said this was impressive for what was essentially a  _ cloud. _

“Ah yes, the diamonds.” She felt even more guilty now, her pockets full of crystals. “I’ll put them back.”

“Don’t bother,” said the first ghost, “They’re a renewable resource. They’re worthless to us.” It moved closer to her, and she allowed it, but she was ready to run at a moment’s notice. She wondered if this was it for her, the end of it all, if they would just keep her prisoner on this shitty planet forever. The ghosts edged closer and she felt them pressing up around her. She shivered. She couldn’t get warm. The ghosts continued growing, twenty, thirty, dozens of them. She closed her eyes, and felt icy breath against her cheeks.

The ghost tapped her shoulder. “Do you want to play cards?”


End file.
